1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to scrolling sign mechanisms in which the display of graphic or textual information may be changed by scrolling a web containing the information across a viewing window in the sign. The invention is specifically directed to a scrolling sign mechanism wherein the graphic or textual information is contained on removable panels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous applications in which it is desirable to change the information displayed by a sign. Typical of such applications are signs involved in the advertising and merchandising of products as in fast food restaurants where menu items and prices are often displayed in backlighted units located behind the counter. In such signs, it is often desired to change information regarding the availability of a product for sale, pricing and other data.
Using fast food restaurants as an example, pricing, pictures of food items and other information are displayed on the display unit. The unit may be above the service counter, exterior to the restaurant, or elsewhere. All or a portion of the menu board may be backlighted to draw attention to the sign and increase its legibility. It is desirable in such circumstances to change the graphics, such as pictures of menu suggestions, and/or associated alpha-numeric information such as, by way of example, descriptions, portion sizes, pricing and the like. These changes could occur in connection with menu suggestions for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This type of information would be changed regularly on a daily basis. In addition to these daily changes, it may also be desirable to have the capability of accommodating less frequent changes of information, for example, the display of information relating to merchandise suitable for a particular season, for a special event or promotion, or for a special target market of customers.
Prior art signs, such as menu boards and the like, typically use individual sheets for the graphics and individual characters or groups of characters for alpha-numeric information strips mounted on fixed panels. This makes changes difficult and time consuming, reducing the flexibility of the sign system.
More recently, scrolling sign mechanisms have been employed and overcome many of the disadvantages of the prior art signs. A typical scrolling sign is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,118 issued May 3, 1988 to the present inventor and others. In the sign there disclosed, the information is printed or coated on the web which is scrolled passed the window in the sign. While such a sign permits the alpha-numeric information to be changed, the changes are limited to those permanently printed on the web. If additional changes are desired, it is necessary to change the web. This sign is particularly useful for gas stations and the like but cannot be readily adapted to a restaurant menu sign where frequent graphic changes are desired. Other examples of signs of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,426,461; 4,680,883 and 3,496,664.
It is also known to provide information panels or sheets that may be removably mounted on a supporting web or strip, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,973 to Mazzocco, Sr. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,458 to Jacobi, et al. The sheets or panels containing the information may be removably affixed to the strips by clips, pins or tape.
However, the two-ply web and information panel combination has created problems as the web is unwound from a supply roll and wound up on a take up roll. Slack develops in either the web or the panels because the web and panel have different radii when wound on the rolls. The two-ply combination adds to the bulk of the web when wound on the rolls and can limit the number of panels that can be placed on the strip. If the strip and panels are tight on the rolls, the slack appears in the viewing window as buckling, detracting from the aesthetic features of the sign.
Various techniques have been devised to overcome this problem. For example, my earlier filed U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,055, filed Aug. 21, 1990 discloses a sign positionable within an enclosure having a viewing window, with a pair of spaced web rolls journaled for rotation with the web extending between the rolls for movement along a path for advancing the web past the viewing window. The web includes a strip having mounted thereon one or more informational panels arranged in series along the web. The panel is mounted on the strip such that the strip and sheet are rolled up smoothly with controlled tension on the rolls. The first guide means is mounted in the module and positioned behind the web. A second guide means is mounted in the module on the other side of the web to form a gap through which the web extends in its path between the rolls. The gap between the first and second guide means is narrowed along the path of the web, typically in a location which is centered with respect to the rolls. The slack occurring in the panel when the panel appears in the window of the enclosure is thus forced to the ends of the panel by the narrowing of the gap. This insures that the panel will appear in a flat, planar condition in the window of the sign to provide a highly effective and aesthetically pleasing display of the information on the panel.
More importantly, there are literally thousands of installations of sign and menu units in fast food restaurants and similar applications utilizing a single panel mounted in a frame on the front of a light box or the like. In order to incorporate any of the changeable sign mechanisms of the prior art, it is required that these installations be dismantled and discarded, or in the least, substantially overhauled. This can require shut down of the operation during changeover, causing a loss of revenue in addition to the expense involved in removing the old sign system and replacing it with a new, changeable sign system. While the changeable sign systems permitting frequent changes of both the graphics and the pricing information provided on the sign are highly desirable in fast food restaurants and similar installations, the advantageous features of such systems have to be balanced against the cost of changeover both in lost time and in equipment expense.